Effects of lubricooling conditions on machining forces and surface roughness in radial grooving

Abstract

Radial grooving is a machining process usually applied to generate grooves for thread relief, O-ring positioning, or even cutting-off operations. Due to the high machining forces and difficult chip removal, radial grooving is considered a critical process, and cutting fluids are usually applied for cooling, lubricating, and assistance on the chip removal. Compressed air (AIR) and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) are lubri-cooling methods studied as environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional flood (WET) applications of cutting fluids. Although already applied for years in several machining processes, the research associated with using alternative lubri-cooling techniques in radial grooving is incipient. This work presents a comparative analysis of these methods (WET, MQL, and AIR) and their radial grooving effects. In each case, a factorial design of experiments was used to evaluate the influence of lubri-cooling conditions, cutting speed, and feed rate over feed force, cutting force, and surface roughness. Results indicate that both AIR and MQL may be suitable substitutes for traditional WET lubrication when active force components and surface finish are considered. Besides, smaller cutting forces were obtained with AIR machining for radial grooving, followed by MQL and WET machining.